Adolescents’ social reading: motivation, behaviour, and their relationship

Using the case of social reading via WeChat in China, this paper aims to explore adolescents’ social reading motivation and behaviour. It also examines how the specific dimensions of reading motivation contribute to the different aspects of social reading behaviour.

This study used survey approach, which gathered 1,039 valid responses from a cluster sampling in 14 middle and high schools in Shanghai, China.

The results indicated that social reading motivation was a multidimensional construct, which included the dimensions of social interaction, self-development, peer recognition, information acquisition, personal interests and time killing. The research also found that different motivational dimensions exerted different influences on adolescents’ social reading activities. Specifically, the motivations of time killing and self-development are significant predictors of both the reading act and socializing act. However, information acquisition and personal interests were significant predictors only of the reading act, while social interaction and peer recognition significantly predicted the socializing act.

The findings would be valuable for those who develop reading programs or administer adolescents’ reading practice. This study can help them understand the complexity of adolescents’ social reading motivation and distinguish between its different dimensions.

The study provides important insights into the nature of adolescents’ social reading motivation and how it relates to their social reading behaviour. It not only confirmed the multidimensionality of social reading motivation as a construct but also expanded the exploration of reading motivation and behaviour to the social media arena.